We give you the scuttlebutt on academic journals—aiding you in selecting the right journal for publication—in reviews that are sometimes snarky, sometimes lengthy, always helpful. Written by Princeton University graduate students and Wendy Laura Belcher.

Modernism/modernity

For those interested in publishing articles that, as the journal’s name suggest, deal with either Modernism or the more broadly defined concept of modernity.

As the previous reviewer points out, this journal interprets the terms “modernism” and “modernity” in their broadest senses. It seems however, that the journal also seeks articles which use its title as a sort of formula, combining one part “Modernism” – that is, a major modernist artist or work – with one part “modernity” – an aspect of material or popular culture which is of less explicit literary or artistic import. Modernism/modernity is thus filled with articles that might be summed up as Stephen Crane/the Veriscope, Vorticism/Boxing, Surrealism/Tourism, etc. This approach produces some very innovative articles and encourages a self-critical approach to Modernist Studies (a field which the journal helped found). However, it should also be observed that, while the journal makes an effort to approach Modernism as a global phenomenon, Anglo-American figures typically take up anywhere from 5 to 6 of the roughly 10 articles the journal publishes in each volume.

For those interested in publishing articles that contribute to the broad field of modernist study.

For the journal, “modernism” or “modernity” is interpreted in the broadest sense of the term. It could refer to a certain period in history, or a specific artistic movement, or simple technological and other innovations in general. The re-reading of the canonical modernist writers (Beckett, Woolf, Pound, Lawrence, T.S. Eliot, etc.) is still a safe bet, but it is preferable if the re-interpretation is done in an interdisciplinary manner, or recast in inter-cultural / international contexts. Otherwise, one could write on a lesser-known “modernist” artist, an artist from the “modernist period,” or an artist from a region that went though “modernization.” Subjects vary but articles on jazz, photography, and films are frequently featured, as well as those on material culture, aesthetics, and rhetoric. Although a large percentage of articles deal with (Western) Euro/Anglo-American topics, the journal incorporates articles on other regions such as South America, East Asia (Japan & China), and Eastern Europe. There is definitely an effort to encapsulate “modernism” as a diverse, global phenomenon. For example, the issue Vol.20, no.3 in 2013 was dedicated to the topic “The Harlem Renaissance and the New Modernist Studies,” and Vol.19, no.3 in 2012 to “Mediamorphosis: Print Culture and Transatlantic/Transnational Public Sphere(s).”